CALCULATION OF E ROSION AND LOWERING RATES

1 kg = 2.2046 lb
1 lb = 0.4534 kg
1 metric ton = 1.1023 ton
1 ton = 0.9072 metric ton

kg = kilogram
lb = pound
metric ton = 1000 kg
English ton = 2000 lb
tonne = metric ton
ton = English ton

Measurement units and conversions

m = meter
ft = foot
km = kilometer
mi = mile

1 m = 3.2808 ft
1 ft = 0.3048 m
1 km = 0.6213 mi
1 mi = 1.9093 km
1 mi = 5280 ft

dimensions

y = year
ka = kiloannum = 1000 yr

1 metric ton/km2 = 2.855 ton/mi2

1 ton/mi 2 = 0.3503 metric ton/km2
description

rate of removal of rock and soil material from the land surface of a drainage basin
measured as mass removed per unit area per unit time

rate of removal of rock and soil material from the land surface of a drainage basin
measured as mass removed per unit time

1 g/cm3 = 1000 kg/m 3 = 1 tonne/m3 = 62.428 lb/ft3

1 kg/m3 = 0.0624 lb/ft3
1 lb/ft3 = 0.0610 g/cm 3 = 61.1018 kg/m 3

symbol
[M/T]

1 km2= 0.3861 mi 2
1 mi2 = 2.60 km2
1 mi2 = 27,878,400 ft2

[M/L2 T]

quantity
Erosion rate

average rate of suspended sediment discharge from a drainage basin

Unit erosion rate

metric tons/y
tons/y

average rate of bedload discharge from a drainage basin

average rate of lowering of the land surface

[M/T]

metric tons/y
tons/y

area of drainage basin from which sediment is derived

[L/T]

Qs

[M/T]

km2
mi 2

mean density of bedrock or soil in the drainage basin

Suspended-sediment
discharge
Qb

[L2]

g/cm3
kg/m 3

Lowering rate
(Denudation rate)

Bedload discharge
A

[M/L3 ]

units
kg/y
metric tons/y
metric tons/ka
tons/y
tons/ka
kg/km 2 /y
metric tons/km2/ka
tons/mi2 /y
mm/y
m/y
m/ka
ft/y

Drainage area

b or s

mean specific weight of bedrock or soil in the drainage basin

Bedrock or soil density

N/m3
lb/ft 3

b or s

[F/L3 ]

Bedrock or soil specific weight

Convert mass of sediment discharged to volume of material removed from drainage basin by dividing by either density or specific weight (as appropriate) of watershed
substrate (bedrock or soil.)
Divide this volume by the drainage area to get lowering rate, being careful to convert units properly.

Logic of lowering rate calculation:

1.
2.

Data needed
a.

Qs and Q b
or

Mean sediment discharge from drainage basin (preferably suspended load plus bedload, but often only suspended load data is available). The erosion rate
E = (Qs + Qb );

Volume of sediment discharged from basin over some period of years T (e.g., sediment trapped in a reservoir) which can be converted to a mass of sediment if

Area of drainage basin from which sediment was derived.

Vsed
the density sed or specific weight sed of the deposited sediment is known:
Msed = Vsed sed (for metric mass units -- kg or metric tons) or
Msed = Vsed sed (for English force units -- lb or English tons)

This can be converted to the erosion rate E by dividing by T, the length of time in years over which volume V sed was accumulated or discharged

Msed
T

b.

Mean density of either bedrock or soil in the drainage basin (if sediment discharge is in metric mass units); or

E=

c.

Mean specific weight of either bedrock or soil in the drainage basin (if sediment discharge is in English force units)

(Q s + Qb )
E
=
A
A

b or s

r=

b or s

Determine the unit erosion rate for the basin by dividing the sediment discharge by the drainage area:

Procedure
1.
To compute the lowering rate

bedrock lowering rate

Ls =

Lb =

r
s

r
b

bedrock lowering rate

Ls =

Lb =

if the sediment discharge is in English force units (lb or English tons) divide the unit erosion rate by the specific weight (in appropriate units) of the material for which you
want to compute the lowering rate:

soil lowering rate

if the sediment discharge is in metric mass units (kg or metric tons) divide the unit erosion rate by the density (in appropriate units) of the material for which you want to
compute the lowering rate:

2.
a.

b.

soil lowering rate

Example calculation

= 18, 200,000 tons/y = 36,400, 000, 000 lb/y

Compute mean bedrock lowering rate of Eel River basin upstream of Scotia, CA
Gaging site: Eel River at Scotia, CA
Drainage area: A = 3113 mi2
Suspended-sediment discharge (10/57 to 9/60): Q s

b of the bedrock can be determined by multiplying the specific weight of water (w = 62.4 lb/ft3 ) by the specific gravity of the bedrock, i.e.,
= 2.5 x 62.4 lb/ft3 = 156 lb/ft3

18200000 tons/y
= 5,846 tons/mi 2 -y
3113 mi2

r
=

(5846 tons/mi2-y) (2000 lb/ton)

= 0.0027 ft/yr = 2.7 ft/ka = 0.8 m/ka = 0.8 mm/y
(156 lb/ft3 ) (27878400 ft2 /mi2)

Compute the bedrock lowering rate; note that we have to convert the tons to pounds and the square miles to square feet to keep units consistent when we divide by the
specific weight

r=

Compute the unit sediment discharge r:

b = G b w

3) The specific weight

2) The specific gravity of a material is numerically equal to its density in g/cm3 . So in this example G b = 2.5, meaning that the bedrock is 2.5 times heavier than
water.

1) The specific gravity , G, of a material is the ratio of its weight or mass to the weight or mass of an equal volume of water -- i.e. its how many times heavier (or
lighter) than water the material is.

Because the sediment discharge is in English force units (tons or pounds) we need the specific weight of the bedrock. To determine this we recognize:

Estimated bedrock density: b = 2.5 g/cm 3

a.

b.
Lb =